Video of Catholic family celebrating daughter’s first communion viral with ‘Muslim man marrying girl child’ claim

by Oishani Bhattacharya

A video of a man presenting a ring to a young girl at what seems to be a family event is viral on social media. Several users have shared the video with captions that imply that the man in the video is marrying the underage girl with some insinuating that this is what Islam preaches.

A parody account of a Mufti (an Islamic scholar) on X (formerly Twitter) shared the above-mentioned video on October 27 with a caption in Arabic that can be translated as: “The missing clip from the movie The Message 🙈”. The tweet has received over 17 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 400 times. (Archive)

‘The Message‘ or ‘Mohammad, Messenger of God’ is a 1976 film about the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through the perspective of his uncle Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib and adopted son Zayd ibn Harithah.

X Blue user @MeghUpdates also shared the same video with the caption, “No comments 🤬”. The user has been often found sharing misinformation on the platform. The tweet has received over 9.16 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 2,900 times. (Archive)

Former BJP Delhi spokesperson Naveen Kumar Jindal also amplified the video. (Archive)

The readers should note that Jindal was expelled from the party in 2022 over his controversial remarks against Prophet Mohammad.

Multiple other users on social media such as @HJB_News_, @IMightyWarrior, @maulnalkur89831, @AwesomeMughals, @KreatelyMedia, @AzzatAlsaalem, @AadiTiw61246771, @Kumar1975Rajesh, @AmitLeliSlayer shared the viral video with similar claims. X user @GoldingBF shared this video with this caption, “Can someone please verify if this is a genuine Islamic child marriage please?”

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Fact Check

We noticed that the viral video consisted of the text ‘@Best_Semell’, seemingly a username, embedded on the video frame. On searching with the username on Instagram we came across an Instagram page of the same name. We found the viral video on the page, posted three days back. The video frame consisted of some text in Central Kurdish that can be translated as: “The end of the world is a husband and wife”. Central Kurdish is a dialect that is mostly spoken in Iraq.

Under the reel, we noticed a comment from an Instagram user with the username @gino_coppola. In the comment, the user mentioned that initially, he believed the page had shared the video with some Arabic text but then he had been told that it was Persian. When he translated the text, he found that there were several ‘bad comments’ and ‘bad things’ written about him. He called the page ‘primitive’ and urged everyone to report the page.

Taking a cue from this, we went to @gino_coppola’s Instagram profile and found the same video from a slightly different angle. It was shared with the following caption in Italian: “I will forever be your knight I love you so much dad ❤️”.

Another reel was shared by Coppola, seemingly from the same event, featuring him and the child in the viral video along with a woman. The caption under the reel said: “Congratulations to our baby on her first communion!! ❤️ we love you!! @rosyreyofficial_ @danilacoppola13”.

This implies that the child is the daughter of the man and the woman featured in the reel and the event was their daughter’s first Communion.

In their most recent Instagram post, under a picture of three of them, the caption says: “Daddy on my communion day I wanna be a princess!! These were your words, and the words given are kept!! Even if you are to us everyday!!! I hope I satisfied you we love you❤️”.

We came across another post by Gino Coppola from June 25 consisting of an image of the child in the viral video and the caption says: “Today you will receive your second sacrament.. “your first communion” I wish you all the good in this world, you are my life I love you ❤️ #firstcomunion #mydaughter❤️ #best wishes”.

The First Communion is a religious ceremony for Catholics. The ritual is performed at a church when a child reaches the age of seven or eight years and they receive the Eucharist (bread and wine). After the ritual is carried out in the church, some families throw a party to celebrate their child’s First Communion where the child receives gifts.

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We noticed that @gino_coppola shared the viral reel posted by @best_semell on his Instagram story asking people to report the page. He mentioned that the page had shared his daughter’s Communion video claiming he was marrying his daughter and expressed his disgust at the matter.

We also reached out to Gino Coppola via Instagram and he confirmed to us that it was a celebration of his daughter’s First Communion and that he gifted her a ring as an ‘affectionate gesture from a father’. He also mentioned that he is a Catholic Christian and Italian.

Hence, it is clear that in the viral video, the family is celebrating their child’s First Communion and the man in the video is the father of the girl making her a present on her special day. The viral claims implying that the man is a Muslim and marrying a younger girl are false.

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